6 Homers Give the Nats a Winning Record

Walters is the place to be after Grant and Danny's parade down half street now that the Nats are over 500. Walters is buying a beer for the first 100 Nats fans who show up for the watch party that starts at 6 o'clock. 2-2 strike count on the game's first hitter. The pitch to wood. Herbal blasted. Right center field and deep. Way back it goes and the Nationals have all one nothing lead. Home run for James Wood is fourth of the season and on the game six pitch wood deposits that over the right center field wall. It's the Nationals one Cleveland nothing one batter in. Here's the set and the three one. Change up. Rifty bright field. De Lauderd giving chase. It's over his hand and it's gone off the top of the wall and gone. Another home run for the Nationals and they lead it six to nothing. There are four home run two innings. Fourth of the season for Garcia. This offense cannot be stopped. Nationals with nine hits five home runs and a five run lead. Bailey sets up down on a way with a target. The O2 is lofted deep left field toward the corner. This one way back there and it is gone on to the pavilion. Another home run for Curtis Mead. Another home run for the Nationals. Bailey to eight to two. And Mead now has seven on the season two homeers three RBI's tonight. What a game for Curtis Mead. And welcome to Natchet. I'm El Galdi host of the El Galdi podcast. I'm joined by Washington Nationals inside our Mark's circle men of Natch Journal dot com. The first year of this podcast was 2021. The Washington Nationals now are above 500 at the latest point in a regular season since being 40 and 39 through games on July 1st, 2021. A 10 to win at the Cleveland Guardians on Monday evening, Memorial Day evening in game one of a three game series. This was a game at which the Natches smashed six home runs and the Nats in M.O.B.s. 2000 26 regular season now are 28 and 27 18 and 11 on the road versus 10 and 16 at home. I cannot say enough good things about what this team is doing in season number one of a restarted rebuild. Remember the Nats are supposed to be putrid and instead the team is above 500. The Nats of course have been through so much during their rebuild which started with a fire sale in late July 2021. But we right now are in the midst of the best times for the Nats since the rebuild started the best times for the Nats since this podcast started. If you are a Nats fan, enjoy this, rebel in this. There are so much to like with this team right now. This installment of Nats Chat brought to us by Mason Calfacy is the top legal recruiter in Washington DC. Mason has been with us since our first season. You can reach him at 2024863535. So the Nats on Monday evening blasted six home runs. The Nats on Monday evening got a tremendous outing from Zach Latel as a bulk pitcher. They had a great weekend run in seven innings with seven strikeouts and how about the memorial day weekend that the Nats just had they went three and one in winning two out of three games at the National League leading Atlanta Braves over Friday through Sunday and then winning at the American League Central leading Cleveland Guardians 10 to on Monday evening. Mark the Nats are having some road trip. This is really remarkable. We talked already about what it meant for them to hold that Braves line up and check over the course of the weekend and especially Saturday and Sunday in winning those two games and giving up one total run. Almost as remarkable to me is what they did here in game one against a Guardians pitching staff that has been lights out. That team had not given up more than three runs in any of its last eight games. Let me say it again had not given up more than three runs in any of its last eight games. The Nationals had three runs three batters into the game and obviously wound up with a whole lot more than that by the end of the night. That is a tremendous offensive performance against a really good pitching staff. Maybe Tanner Bible had an off night who knows but after kind of worrying that what happened to the Nats offense they had to rely on the pitching over the weekend. The offense was back and in full force against a very good pitching staff. The Guardians are not some Patsy team. Again leading the American League Central the record even with this loss 32 and 24 the run differential even with this loss at plus 15. But when you look at what the Nats are doing here and you know when we talk about like the Nats seasons that have been the best from a pleasant surprise standpoint right. So like 2005 immediately comes to mind 2012. You could argue immediately comes to mind because while the team was expected to be better if not good was the team expected to be that good that season. This season now is starting to enter into that conversation. We understand there's a ways to go but as things stand right now there are a lot of 2005 in 2012 vibes. I think anyway with how fans are feeling about this team how we're looking at this team what the expectations were versus what the performance is proving to be. Yeah I think 2005 is a good comp obviously that was the first year so there was a lot of excitement but everybody knew deep down that was not a team that was really built to win. And if I recall they were right around the 500 mark on Memorial Day and that's when they kicked off the 10 game winning streak that propelled them into first place and ultimately the best record in the national league going into the All Star break. Now it's a long way to go between this and get into that point. But there's a little bit of a similar feeling here of a team that was sort of cobbled together and had some bright spots but nobody really knew what to expect from them and they hung around played decent ball and then they just took off at the end of May and early June and we saw what happened. 2012 yes it was better than expected but there were some real expectations coming into the season that they were ready to contend for the first time since coming to DC and then they exceeded that 198 games and ran away with the division. So I think so far this reminds me a little bit of 2005 a little bit of 2007 which is a team that did nothing in the off season and people predicted more than 100 losses and they exceeded those expectations and got to I think 73 wins but the difference is that team was filled with castoffs it was Ryan Zimmerman and a bunch of castoffs. This team that was we know is built with some actual young talent that they hope is a part of this thing in the future when they do finally win and who knows maybe that day that they are going to be ready to win is going to come a little sooner than we all thought. What about 2011 then that's finished a game under 500 we're doing quite well everyone remembers 2011 for the Jim Rigolman Fiasco but that was the team coming off multiple bad seasons that ended up being pretty decent and of course set the table for that breakout 2012 season. Right and the difference there is that chaotic summer now they actually run a winning streak when the Rigolman resigned that was in late June and it was sort of like hey maybe this team starting to get serious and they're kind of right around 500 and then he resigns David Johnson takes over and you know he held them together and they did well and that was certainly probably more than any other season that they've had in team history. You got to the end of that season and you said yourself okay they're ready now the time has come and that's what you saw now in 2012. That would be a great comparable if they can keep this going and just stay somewhere in this vicinity around 500 and have real building blocks like that 2011 team was starting to put together and then you go into the winter and go into next season and say yes there was a lot of positive momentum last year all the right people are in place perhaps ownership is ready to now invest a little bit more and add to what they already have and then you're often running in 2027 again long way to go between now and then but we've talked a lot about this idea of how long does this have to take this process and are they focused on 2028 and not even on 2027 and they weren't really trying to win this year and that may all still be true but the group of players that they have put together the longer they keep playing like this the more they're going to put pressure on the people in charge to maybe adjust their thinking and who knows what that looks like I'm not going to come out and say oh they're going to be buyers at the trade deadline or anything like that but if they keep doing this they're going to force the front office and ownership to maybe reevaluate some things and say you know what maybe we're a little closer to being ready to be more aggressive and be a team that expects to win instead of thinking multiple years down the road. Well the president of baseball operations Paul Taboni told us in his appearance on this podcast months ago the players are going to dictate the timeline here how they do how they develop that is what is going to govern how long this rebuild takes the way I see it is it's not for you know to me to dictate like with great specificity what the timeline is going to be because things can change so quick you know if James and Daneland and CJ and whoever right go out arcade and you know all our guys go out there and have unbelievable years this year they are accelerating the point at which like we are motivated to really push the chips in and so things can change pretty quickly and he's a hundred percent right about that and if these guys do better than anticipated then the timeline is expedited and we may well be seeing that with what is happening here things are happening with the Washington nationals but man this offense again outstanding in this tend to win at the guardians on Monday evening 10. 10 runs, 15 hits, which were six home runs, two doubles and seven singles, one walk, two for eight with runners in scoring position. The Nats did strike out 11 times, but nobody cares when you hit six home runs. The Nats hit a whopping five homers of Guardian starting pitcher, Tanner Bible, who allowed seven runs in three innings. Tanner Bible, as many of you know, is a pretty good pitcher. This is not some, you know, recent call up. This is not some, you know, fading veteran. Tanner Bible came into this game with the DRA of 3.75 over 11 games all starts, but the Nats on Monday evening had their way with Tanner Bible. The six homers came from five guys, James Wood, as an at starting DH and number one batter, four for five with a solo homer and three singles would in the Nats. Three run first, a lead off homer to right center field for one nothing. Nats lead despite having been down at 1.12. The homer going a projected 412 feet per stat cast. CJ Abrams as an at starting shortstop and number four batter, one for four solo homer, Abrams in the Nats one run third lead off homer to right field for a seven one Nats lead. So Wood and Abrams homer, but it was a lot more than just those two in this game. Curtis Mead hit two home runs. He was in at starting third baseman and number three batter two for five with a two run homer and a solo homer. Mead in the Nats three run first, a two run homer to left field for a three nothing. Nats lead despite having been down at 1.02. Head in the Nats one run fifth, a one out solo homer to left field on an 0 to pitch for an eight to Nats lead. So I'm really good to strike hitting by the Nats in this game. And you look at Curtis Mead. His OPS now is 844. The Nats this past March 28th announced having traded a minor league catcher, Boston Smith to the Chicago White Sox for Curtis Mead. How good does that trade look right now? Luis Garcia, Jr. had four RBI. He is in at starting first baseman and number two batter three for five to run homer, double and a two run single Garcia in the Nats three run second to two out to run homer to right field for a six nothing Nats lead Garcia in the Nats two run six to two out bases loaded full count to run single up the middle to put the Nats up 10 to and Jacob Young homer again. He is the Nats starting center fielder and number seven batter two for four with a solo homer and a single young in the Nats three run second, a lead off homer to left field for a four nothing Nats lead despite having been down at 1.12 as his home run surge continues. He now is at seven homers of having entered this season with a career five home runs over a thousand six MLB regular season played appearances. So so much to like from what the offense did in this game, but more scoring early in a game three runs in the top of the first three runs in the top of the second another run in the top of the third early and often. And that's we're scoring and producing offensively in this game. So you said they traded him for a guy named Boston Smith. I think at this point they could have traded him for the entire city of Boston and it would still come out as a win for the nationals. That's how good Curtis Mead has been here lately for them. And we mentioned this maybe within the last week as we were talking about him suddenly becoming the third baseman because of the Brady House to motion. It's working because he is having success not just against lefties but against righties. He's got better numbers against righties than lefties, which was not the reputation. The idea was that he was a platoon guy. And that's what he was at first base with Luis Garcia. He's now got a nine sixty five OPS against righties this year. Curtis Mead needs to be if not the every day third baseman very close to the every day third baseman. And I think you're going to see more of that happening as long as he continues to play well like this. That's been great to see you know you mentioned wood and Abrams. We've talked for a while about how CJ had the higher OPS James Woods back ahead of him now nine thirty eight to nine twenty four thanks to his four yet night. That's not a knock on CJ at all who's continues to be great. So that was good Jacob Young hitting for power is fantastic. Luis Garcia with the three hit nights fantastic Dylan Cruz hitting the ball hard and getting positive results. All these things are positive developments for them from an offensive standpoint and it is nice to see as I said you know the weekend didn't go so great from an offensive standpoint in Atlanta and you were starting to worry like okay maybe this was a little bit of a fluke they're finally coming back to earth for them to just to come right back and put together this kind of performance the next night that boats well for suggesting that what we have seen for the better part of two months was not just something that was inevitably going to collapse on them. And that's now or at seventy one home runs over fifty five games in this regular season the nets are tracking toward having more than two hundred home runs over 162 games here. Wouldn't that be something wouldn't that be so much better than what we've seen throughout this rebuild in terms of home run hitting that this team as thing stand right now is tracking toward hitting two hundred plus home runs in this two thousand twenty six regular season unbelievable. How many times in the last I don't know four years have we lamented where are they going to find power from how can this team hit some more home runs slug a little better because maybe they hit for average maybe they hit singles but they're not scoring runs because they can't do it in bunches for them to flip that script is really remarkable Jacob Young is on a twenty home or pace right now I think that says it all he's got five homeers in his last seventeen games and he certainly not alone in doing this it's been a great thing to see and as we've discussed so many times when you hit for power it makes up for so many other things and right now they're absolutely doing that. Hey are you a law firm partner or associate looking to transition to a new firm because of compensation if this sounds like you you should explore the lateral market and give Mason Calfys call Mason is the top legal recruiter in the Washington DC area he has been a Natschat podcast advertiser since the beginning of our show to find the best law firm out there for your future career called Mason Calfys today two zero two four eight six three five three five. Now the two two. So we have a fly ball deep left center field for young Martinez turning looking for a caram there is none it is gone Jacob Young is home again and the nationals have three homers and a four nothing lead here in the second inning he never had more than three in a season Jacob Young has seven home runs here on Memorial Day so we just talked about the two thousand five Nats more surprising the Nats pitching in two thousand five were the Nats hitting in two thousand twenty six what do you think I'm going to say the the hitting this year is more surprising because and they even mentioned it on the broadcast it's easy to forget this they were awful in spring training they had nothing going offensive they think Brady House was the only guy with any kind of like positive momentum coming out of spring training and that's not just outsider saying and I know they internally were a little bit worried like what do we have here how bad could this be and then opening the Chicago they took off and they haven't looked back since that to me is more surprising in two thousand five little different environment and it was a little easier to be a really good pitching team like that one was RFK was huge and they they use that to their advantage it was so hard to hit a ball out in the deep gaps there the miss marked gaps in left center and right center as we found out later on that pitching staff may not have had all the names it would make you think it was elite but I think the environment was more conducive to that whereas what they're doing offensively right now I don't think there are very many people that saw this coming yeah you liked wood and Abrams and you saw potential in others but for them collectively as a team to be this good more than a third of the way through the season I don't think anybody really saw that coming and part of what's happening with the Nats right now that makes what is happening with the right Nats right now so good is that the pitching has been so much better the pitching was superb in the Nats winning two out of three games at the braves Friday through Sunday in the pitching in this 10 to win at the guardians on Monday evening was terrific Zach let tell served as the Nats bulk man that that's went with an opener in this game reliever PJ pool and he allowed one run in two innings by the other second gave up a lead off home by Reese Huskins to left field to cut the Nats lead to six one let tell came into the game and that was it he was the only other pitcher used by the Nats in this game let tell was so good he allowed one run in seven innings with seven strikeouts he gave up five hits which were two doubles and three singles he issued three walks through a good number of pitches but through a lot of strikes a hundred six pitches 70 strikes just 36 balls Zach let tell he of course got off to such a rough start in this regular season six games including five starts ERA 785 whip 174 but how about Zach let tell now in this month of May five games including two starts ERA of 2.19 whip of 0.97 and you take a step back and you look at how the Nats have taken two veteran starting pitchers in miles Michael is in Zach let tell who had been really I mean I don't think we can overstate how poorly those two were doing and what each guy is doing in this month of May Michael is in this month of May four games including two starts ERA 326 whip 0.93 we talk about the new regime the new process analytics based et cetera let tell and Michael is I don't know if we say that they have been fixed but they certainly have improved and the Nats are getting a whole lot more out of these guys now as compared to what had been happening just a few weeks ago if nothing else it's the test for two things. Number one, patience. You know, especially with veterans who have track records. And I know it's frustrating. We all are in that same boat in mid-delayed April. And you're saying, how much longer are they going to continue with this? When are they just going to give up on these guys? Why aren't they willing to eat the money and just cut them loose? And one of the reasons you don't always do that is you say, we think there's something still in there. We want to trust that this guy can get it back on track based on what he's done in the past. I think it applies to lettel a little more than Michael is because lettel's younger was coming off several good seasons and obviously signed late in spring training. So it wasn't a shock that he got off to a bad start. Now he was beyond bad. He was awful at all the home runs that he was giving up. So wasn't the guarantee this was going to happen. But I think the patience with him and the patience with Michael is and then the second thing, having a coaching staff that can identify what the problems were and helping these two figured out. And I don't want to just give 100% of the credit to the coaches. Let's give credit to the actual pictures for doing the job and figuring out what needed to be done. And getting back to I think in both cases from talking them, it sounds like it really has been a case of getting back to what they know their strengths are. Not pitching scared attacking hitters, trying to locate down in the zone or on the edges. Not trying to be too fine. Just essentially trusting that they can still be good big league pictures. And they're both proving that right now. Now I was going to last. I don't know. I think in lettel's case, there's a better chance of that being true. I think in Michael is this case, we all understand he's probably on borrowed time at age 37. But those two developments, I think have been as important as anything. And I know they're not part of the long-term plan. But you went from a point where two out of five days, you were cringing because of who they were putting on the mound and thinking, okay, the only way you're going to win this game is if they score eight nine runs. And now you're actually feeling good about the games that they're pitching. And they have deservedly gotten some wins in the games that Miles Michael and Zach Latel have been the bulk pictures of not always the starters. Al Goldie here to tell you about win donations by four get for free sale. But before that, the window nation look into the future. Here's a pitch grounded the other way by Seever. That's a base hit the right field. Take the races around 30s headed for home. The throwoff line not in time. Seever came, drives in the go ahead run with an off-field ground ball single and the right. Take these for no problem. Window Nation has a great offer for listeners of the Natschat podcast. The buy for get for free sale during which you could replace all of your home's windows and get half of them for free. Plus you can get your windows with no money down and no payments or interest for two years. The sale end soon so call 8669DNation or visit windownation.com now to book a consultation 86699 window nation or window nation.com to book a consultation and tell window nation that you want the deal that you heard about from Al Goldie on the Natschat podcast. Two to the count. One nothing nationals just underway and the pitch. Swing a fly ball. Well hit to left. Martinez back. He's bluffing. This one's going to be back and it's gone. He acted like he wanted to make the catch the ball clears the 19 foot wall. It's a home run for Curtis Mead and the nationals lead it three to nothing. Three batters in. You know he's reached us on X. I'm on X at Al Goldie. Mark is on X at Mark Sogramman. We are starting to get this question. So let's answer this question and have a little fun. Why not? So this is kind of representative of what we're getting. We got this from a J Johnson on Monday night. If the Nats are at slash near 500 at the All-Store break. Is it time to add instead of subtract at the deadline? Yes, I am drinking the Kool-Aid. Thank you very much for that. Drink away my friend. Drink away. So the 2026 Moby Trade Deadline is not until Monday, August 3rd at 6 p.m. Eastern. So you actually have quite a bit of time to figure out what you want to do regarding that trade deadline. But let's go ahead and entertain this. What do you think would it take for the Nats to buy at the deadline? Like what would have to be the scenario in terms of record, in terms of where they are and say the wild card standings? Obviously ownership approval would be needed to potentially add payroll. But what do you think would have to be a realistic scenario under which Paul Toboni is a buyer? I can't believe we're talking about this. Paul Toboni is a buyer at the 2026 trade deadline. Oh, that Kool-Aid is so sweet right now. I'm picturing the Kool-Aid man bursting through the wall. Oh yeah! Look, there's nothing wrong with dreaming a little bit. As Andy Dufrein wrote to Red at the end of the Shawshank Redemption, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. Yes, have hope. There's nothing wrong with being hopeful about this team, not just in the long run, but right now. But I'm going to douse this a little bit here and just say this, they're over 500. That's fantastic. They're two games out of the wild card. That's fantastic. Here's the problem. They've got four teams ahead of them for the final wild card spot right now. And then another two above that for the other two wild card spots. They're not catching the braves for the division. The braves are running away with it in spite of how well the Nats played against them over the weekend. There are really four teams in the National League that I would be stunned if they don't make the postseason. The braves, Dodgers, Brewers and Padres. They're all at 585 or better in their winning percentage. And then you have this other group that's the Cardinals who are exceeding expectations. They were supposed to be rebuilding. That may not hold up. But the dimebacks, the Cubs who have lost nine in a row, but were on fire before that. The Reds and the Pirates, two teams above 500 trying to get over that hump and prove that they are ready to be contentors. And then right behind the Nationals, the 500 Phillies who've already had to climb back from there, awful start of the year. That's a lot of teams and there's only six spots in the end. So I think the odds are stacked against them. This is probably not the kind of year where 86, 87 wins is going to get you in. It's probably going to be closer if not all the way up to 90. And that's a tall task to ask of these guys. Now in a broader sense, can the way they're playing change the way they approach the trade deadline? Sure. You don't have to go into that and just say they're automatically sellers. And you have to trade CJA rooms and you have to trade Zach Latel and Foster Griffin. No, they don't have to do that. I would think that there's a middle ground there. I would have a hard time seeing Paltiboni being an aggressive buyer at the deadline. And like a win now kind of move. Certainly not giving up any buddy among the prospects who has a future or potential for future here. Maybe you can go get an affordable bullpen arm or bench guy, you know, supplemental pieces to help you out. Perhaps but to go get like a big name starting picture or another big bat, what that would have to cost to give up. I really have a hard time seeing that. But what they could do is essentially stand pat. And that's not the worst thing in the world. You don't have to then say, okay, well, Foster Griffin's a free agent at the end of the year. So we have to trade him now. Like no, you can hold on to him. See how things go the rest of the year. Maybe you do make a surprise run. And if you don't, he's still here and maybe you can convince him to come back next year. CJA rooms, of course, Zach Latel, all these guys, you can take that approach and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I just would be very surprised with this particular front office and understanding the landscape of the whole national league that they would allow themselves to to forego the larger plan here and trade anything away that could help them in the future at a what would have to be considered still a long shot to make a talk over this year. Couple of things. Number one, as appealing and enticing and exciting as being a buyer regarding the MLB trade deadline is the truth is so many buy side acquisitions regarding trade deadlines don't work. There are a lot of examples of teams over paying at MLB trade deadlines. There are a lot of examples of acquisitions at trade deadlines, just not doing all that well. We remember the ones that do exceptionally well, like, you know, say you went as sespitus for the meds in 2015, that kind of a thing. There are so many that don't work out. So it's actually not as exciting as maybe it appears to be on the service. The other thing though is this I think the CJA Abrams aspect of all of this is what becomes especially interesting foster Griffin. Okay, you know, Lizac let tell okay, but Abrams to me is a thing because I think we all entered this season kind of thinking pretty good chance he gets dealt if this team is further along than anybody thought and Abrams is doing as well as he is doing. Yes, you could argue that increases the likelihood of him being traded because of stock is high, but you also could argue, hey, if this team is close and Abrams is only in his mid 20s and is still under team control for multiple seasons, it's not like he's going to be a free agent this coming season does that alter the calculus in the mind of Paul Taboni regarding whether he wants to trade CJA Abrams this season or this coming off season. I think that becomes really interesting and that perhaps is a conversation that is being changed by how well the nads are doing. Yeah, that's what I'm talking about standing pad, I'm thinking of those kind of terms because the idea there is you're not just keeping him because you're trying to win this year, but maybe you're keeping him because you think you might be trying to to win next year for the next year. year after that when he's still under club control. I think the message that was sent when they traded McKenzie Gore in January was not that they didn't like him as a pitcher, but they didn't believe that they were going to be in a position to win before he could become a free agent. And he's a free agent after the 27 season. So that makes a little more sense. In Abrams case, you have another year beyond that. And the thought all along has been, okay, kind of the same thing. Are you really going to be ready to win before he walks? And if not, are you going to risk losing him and getting nothing in return? So why not try to maximize that and get players who are going to help you? And if he wouldn't be around here anyways, when you're ready to win, what's the point of hanging on to him in the meantime? But if perhaps they're starting to think, hey, you know what, 2027 might be a winning season for us. And certainly 2028 is and CJ Abrams has already under club control and not making that much money as an arbitration player. And you know, one of the best hitting short stops in baseball with OPS over 900. And by the way, playing better defense in the last few weeks, if you've noticed as well. Yeah, there's a compelling case. Say you don't have to do anything there. And it doesn't mean they couldn't still trade him someday down the road. But this idea of, oh, you have to trade a guy with two years to go under club control. No, you don't have to do that at all. You can actually try to win with good players on your roster. And not a perfect example. But I thought about this a lot lately. You know, Anthony Rendon was in his walk here and then that's one the World Series. And he was an MVP finalist. Third place, he was fantastic. And then they lost him to free agency. They got nothing in return for him. Do they regret that now? No. He had a terrible contract with the angels. His career is essentially over. Yeah, the Naxon didn't get anything in return for him. But you know what? They won a World Series. And he was one of the most important players on that team. So it's okay to hang on to a guy, let him become a free agent and try to get everything you can out of him. Wow, you have him and try to win. Well, you have him and I'd say the same thing about James Wood because that conversation, sadly, is going to be coming up in a couple of years as well. What's the harm in trying to win with the guys you have while you have them? If you lose them in the end, okay, so be it. But at least you gave it your best shot to win while they were wearing your uniform. The Nats are 28 and 27 are in second place in the National League East or two games out of the National League's third and final Wildcord spot things are happening with this team. It is great to have you with us on this podcast, which as of early Monday morning was the number 11 podcast in the country on the US baseball charts per Apple podcast. We thank you so much for that. We cannot do this without you. That high ranking is a testament to you. So thank you so much for listening, for downloading and for subscribing. It means a lot to us. We mean that sincerely. Number 11 in the country. We were so happy to see that. Also, we continue to appreciate those of you who are repping the podcast not only at Nationals Park, but on the road as well. Our friend Val was sporting her Nats chat podcast T-shirt at Progressive Field on Monday evening. Our friends Larry and Melissa Cohen continued to represent this podcast on the road. So we appreciate that so much. Nats chat podcast nation is out there in full force these days, not unlike the team as a whole. That's right. I see so many fans when I'm on the road with them, many of them. They see me. They mentioned first and foremost how much they love the podcast. Sometimes they wear the gear, but even if they don't, they listen to it all the time. It's so gratifying for us to know how it's grown and how excited people are right now. I would echo all those thoughts and also just want to chime in to thank everyone who has subscribed to Nats Journal over the last three months since I started that. We're up over 7,000 total subscribers to the site. A good number of those are paid subscribers. If you are someone who has a free subscription and you get some of the articles, consider upgrading to that paid subscription. You're going to get all the articles. I really do a deep dive comprehensive piece after every game and those are the ones that are behind the paywall generally. I'm grateful for everyone who has already signed up for that and has offered all the kind words since then and encourage anybody who hasn't already checked it out or updated their subscription to go to the paid subscription. I really encourage everyone to do that. Yeah, Nats Journal is outstanding. I read it every day. I know so many of you listening, read it every day. Just tremendous Nats coverage. Love what Mark is doing with that site. This installment of Nats Chat brought to us by Mason Calfacy is the top legal recruiter in Washington, DC. You can reach them at 2024863535 game two for the Nats at the Guardians Tuesday evening at 610. Then that's have a Cade Cavali as their starting pitcher for the game. All Nationals Radio highlights on Nats Chat courtesy of 1067 the fan for Mark's government. I'm Al Goldie. We thank you for listening. We'll talk to you next time on the Nats Chat podcast. The bases low to this year the raise of it 333 they have hit three slam with a bench. Swung line and popped up. Playful shallow right, Mercer out, Soto coming in, Soto moving into his right makes a one handed grab and the inning is over. John Lester walks the tight rope and a little who genie act he gets to the other side.